ACOG Now Recommends Delayed Cord Clamping for All Babies

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a new recommendation that has been anticipated in the birth world for some time: the clamping of the umbilical cord at birth should be delayed for at least 30-60 seconds in all healthy infants.

Delayed cord clamping is a practice which involves allowing a newborn's umbilical cord to stop pulsating before it is clamped and severed. This allows the infant to receive more of its own blood volume from the placenta, and may increase iron stores and provide other health benefits.

This new recommendation is a revision of the ACOG's earlier 2012 statement, which found health benefits for pre-term babies of receiving more of their blood from their placentas. Now, the benefits to all infants have been studied.

Many parents choose to put delayed cord clamping on their birth plans, rather than allow the cord to be clamped immediately at the moment of delivery. With this new recommendation, more and more birth care practitioners may implement this into their practices. What do you think?

You can read the whole article about the new ACOG delayed cord clamping recommendations here.